Friday, November 15, 2013

Power Rangers Megaforce - Staying On Track - Episode Review

 UPDATED 11/17/13 11 PM EST
Pics thanks to Megaforcecast.com
Summary:
The Rangers have the day off, they mud slide while Noah and Robo Knight play chess. RK is beating Noah but not really paying attention and doesn't get what having fun is. Jake wants a high five and teaches it to RK. RK does so and knocks Jake down and potato salad falls on his face. Back at the sea lab, Vrak says they should take the heroes down with their own technology. Metal Alice studies a train and has a plan. A father and son are wait for a woman in the train. Metal Alice enter the train operation office and breaks the controller. The conductor tells the mother on the train that they have to make an emergency stop.

 Metal Alice's plan is to cause chaos and conflict within humanity because of the faulty trains. The Rnagers morph. People get frustrated that the train will be delayed. The dad tells the kid to be patient. Metal Alice is stopped by the Rangers outside a power station. She fights them and Robo Knight questions her. She explains about glitching disrupting humans. Noah says it is her provocation. MA takes Noah down, saying humans should be slaves. She asks RK why he continues to be with them, he says she lacks compassion like them. The building explodes. MA exits. 

The Rangers track down MA. The boy goes to get a drink and bumps into RK and says how he misses his mom and explains hugs and missing people to RK. The boy leaves. MA is found by Troy and fight. They have 7 minutes until a bomb explodes. Troy goes down. Loogies fight Troy. Troy informs the others. RK sees the family and leaves. Tensou says it is a passenger train. MA stops RK and tells him that he is just a machine and that if he breaks, he will be thrown away.

MA teleports away, RK doesn't say anything. Meanwhile the Rangers go Ultra Mode.  Ultra Rangers fight Loogies, RK faces MA and fights her. MA says human feelings have no value and kicks RK butt. The Ultra Rangers defend him and say that they can't things with chaos, humans rise up to defend. The clock is ticking and Metal Alice knocks the five down. RK says that humans may be hard to understand but they appreciate their fellow friend, talking about a child missing his mother. He takes Metal Alice down after she says it is all nonsense.

Metal Alice has a trick under her sleeve, the bridge is destroyed, and the trains are about to crash. The Rangers get up. Gosei gives them new cards as they get the Gosei Jet. RK becomes Lion Zord, they call forth Gosei Jet, which as you may already knows resembles the Gosei Great Megazord. They save the train. Metal Alice uses the Zombats on herself and make herself big. Gosei Grand and Gosei Jet are formed. Metal Alice is mad her body is scarred (can't it be repaired like her leg?). They use the individual zords attacks like the crocodile and elephant. They use their Victory Charge.

The Jet Strike is the bird head flying out at them and she is 'destroyed.' She returns to the base, she says she failed. Vrak says there is more battles and tells her to repair herself. The train arrives safety and mother and son are reunited. Robo Knight waves at the boy and is surprised at this. The teens like this. RK has questions. Jake says to shoot and RK points his gun at Jake. Troy stops him and says he has a lot to learn.

Episode Review:
I love the lighting the New Zealand crew does for villain lairs, they did a good job at recreating the robot lab. They most likely did this to add the alien Vrak as in the footage he is cyborg. As for the ep, it is complex but explained in a simple manner and brings old topics back in a bold and vivid manner. Metal Alice does her old speech (well, its her third ep so it's not that old) on how Robo Knight is a robot and not human and humanity doesn't matter but brings a new twist to Robo Knight's future or possible dismantlement. The boy had an accent, which was just fine. The boy seemed to be in a little old to be missing his mommy but plenty kids, even teens can miss their mothers. People are belly-aching we only see Gosei Jet Megazord once but I think it had some good scenes. My nephew liked that it looked like Gosei Great and was surprised by the choices in animals.

Power Rangers Megaforce - Rico the Robot - Episode Review

Some pictures from my buddy Jay at Morphin Legacy
 
Summary: 
Malkor is surprised the other villains are gone, so he is going into a cocoon to be stronger and unbeatable. He disappears into a mist. Vrak calls him a fool. He says he turn to his royal family. He goes to his space ship and to his underwater base where is greeted by Metal Alice. Metal Alice and Loogies attack the city and the Rangers fight them. MA calls Robot R1C0 to them and commands he attack. He doesn't move. Metal Alice throws Rico the robot on an attack from them and she says he is failure. She disappears. The Rangers are surprised he was left behind. Robo Knight is about to attack him, she goes up to him and asks if he is all right.

Troy thinks they can't trust him. He doesn't seem to have weapons. Troy says to keep a close eye on him. Tensou is worried, Gosei is not. He thinks the robot can give intel to the teens about her plans. Noah checks on the robot, his mouth doesn't open. Jake is suspicious but the others are not. Emma wants to take him to the park, she decided to call him Rico. They play at the park. Emma says he is good, that she feels bad for him. Gia says they shouldn't feel for them like RK say. Emma says they should befriend him like they did with RK. She asks if she is crazy for doing it. Gia says Emma has a big heart.

They eat at a picnic. Rico says Jake likes Gia and Rico likes Emma. He wants to eat grapes but can't, he is different. Emma says just because they aren't the same, doesn't mean they can't be friends. They take a pic together and the light on his chest blinks. Noah checks out Rico's stats in the command cneter, the light is a sensor that Metal Alice can track him from. Tensou says they can't take it out. The Rangers say it is a setup, Emma doesn't think he is dangerous and then he disappears. The Rangers search for Rico who is in the forest. Emma finds him. Rico says it is bad for the Rangers.

 Emma wants to free him from MA and explains how. Later, the Rangers are morphed and want to blast the sensor on Rico. Emma is given the task which she hesitates. Jake and Gia make a barrier and the others make a tornado to absorb the explosion from the sensor. Robo Knight would freeze it after Emma hits it with lightning. She calls the lightning. Rico and Pink look at each other. Pink drops her Morpher and freaks out because it could be the end of Rico. Metal Alice arrives and rattles them. MA says that robots are driven by self preservation and logic. The Rangers go Ultra Mode.

Metal Alice upgrades R1C0 and makes him turn against them. RK is about to attack him, Emma stops it. The others try to hold him back. Pink holds him and tries talking sense to him, his arms lower. He then hits her and blasts her back. They all get blasted at. Troy says he doesn't want to fight him, even though his memories are destroyed. Noah says the sensor has to be destroyed. Jake and Gia restrain him and RK fights it. Emma stops them and then gets ready. RK freezes Rico. Noah and Troy create a tornado to make a narrow opening for Emma. 

She hits his sensor and he returns to normal. Zombats make him big and she uses backup energy to make him bad again. The Rangers say they have no choice but to destroy him. They call upon their zords. Rico doesn't want to, he refuses. Metal Alice tries to self-destruct him but it doesn't work. Emma says she will save him. She calls Gosei Ultimate. She jumps inside. Metal Alice is about to destroy him but Robo Knight stops him. Rico holds unto Gosei Ultimate and flies away. Rico remembers her. Rico lets go and thanks her. Emma cries. MA leaves and says he failed, Vrak says she won't accept another failure. Back at the park, the Rangers play. A small photo montage is shown.


Review:
 I like that we got another Emma episode on the second half of this season, as the females usually don't get much focus. She does as she is the 'heart' of the group. This episode is similar to the Goseiger source. I like how the Rangers turn against Emma in some manner that they don't completely agree with her. Conflict within the team is better than them being all lovey-dovey all the time. I like how in this episode unlike other Power Rangers episode that has a Ranger defending a defected monster (MMPR, PRTF, PRMF, etc.), Rico escapes without consequences. This one is changed from Goseiger ending but without new footage.

Power Rangers Megaforce - Human Factor - Episode Review

 Pictures are from my buddy Jay

 Summary:
The boys are playing soccer, the girls say how they are like their family. Emma looks at the city skyline and imagines how it was hundreds of years ago with mountains and grass. Gia gives her ice cream from ice cream truck. Meanwhile in an underwater base, Vrak creates Metal Alice, a robot to create more. Later she has created a new bot, he chops off her leg. She has the leg react. Vrak is proud and likes that she is indestructable. Emma takes pics of Gia. Jake is about to eat a popsicle when Emma has him take pictures of the two. Emma holds his ice cream. Jake backs up into a trash can and gets stuck. They get called, Emma ditches the pop, Gia helps Jake out of the can.

The Rangers face the bot, surprised it is not a monster. They morph and fight him. It becomes a wheel and hits them. They are blasted into a warehouse. He makes all magnetic things into a shield that protects him from the Rangers and he throws it at them. RK arrives. He is surprised he is a robot. The robot blasts Robo Knight back. The Rangers end up in chains and outside. Troy goes down. Jake and Gia free themselves and get knock down. They free Pink and Blue. Robo Knight calls Troy and lifts a car. Troy jumps and kicks the monster and then Jake frees him.

They talk about their mission. They go Ultra. Blue and Black fight him. Pink and Yellow fight and then Red destroys the shield. The five do their Ultra Sword Strike and destroy it.Metal Alice tells Vrak that she can fix the robot. Troy wonder what the change in tactic can be. RK says robots can be repaired. Metal Alice rebuilds the monster. Back at the Brain Freeze, Jake and Noah are concerned about Robo Knight and the robots. Troy says it could be a concern as he might identify with them. The new robot is upgraded and Metal Alice goes with them.

Ernie gives Jake sundaes and they get called once again. Troy whispers to Tensou and yet again Jake must say goodbye to his ice cream. The Rangers are shocked to see the robot back. Metal Alice arrives and introduces herself. Dynamic Victory Charge doesn't work on him. Metal Alice makes RK question what side he is on, saying humans ruined the Earth. Robo Knight leaves, saying he needs to process. The Rangers (Ultra Mode) fight the baddies in a cave.

 The Rangers are knocked down. Troy gets up and says he will turn them from metal to dust. Metal Alice turns her pad into a sword and takes down the five on her own. The minion bot knocks them out of Ultra Mode. RK arrives and says even though humans are illogical and stubborn, they are part of the Earth do, their good outweighs the bad and he won't join them. The Rangers go Ultra once again and RK calls his Dynamic card. They form a combo of their six weapons and attack both but Metal Alice jumps out. The robot is knocked out. Metal Alice teleports away.

 Vrak in his battle armor calls zombats to make the robot big. The Rangers call Gosei Ultimate while RK becomes Gosei Grand. RK gives the Rangers the 'honors' to finish off the monster and they use their Ultimate Strike to destroy Robox, who says Metal Alice will defeat them. Back on the rooftop with RK, the teens meet with him and thank them and glad he chose them. He says he protects the Earth and they are part of the Earth. Jake is glad about it. Noah says he is logical. Troy says RK is true a sixth Ranger. Emma and Noah says they have a lot of work to do. RK makes a joke.

 Review:
 I like the writing in this, some of Metal Alice's lines are dripping with poignancy and irony (in the sense they could mean one thing but they mean another). The ice cream stuff with Jake was funny but Emma's environmentalism gets tiring. Robo Knight's own dilemmas aren't as annoying as they usually are, the voice actor has gotten better at having emotion in that robotic voice.


Check out Morphin Legacy and "The Grid"

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Power Rangers Megaforce Nintendo 3DS Game Review

 I got this game for my four year old grand nephew who loves his 3DS. We got it last week. I am not much of a gamer so I will not into too much detail or every little nook and crany. This review is for random gamers and those who just play casually. So basically the story to the Power Rangers Megaforce game is that the Rangers must fight together (hence when you play one, the others talk and encourage you) the forces of Vrak. Basically all the villains still exist and all work together like Creepox, Metal Alice and Bluefur. You can play as any of the Rangers and change back and forth.

There are different stages you have to go through. There is like for example 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, and 1-5. The last one is the Megazord battle. And the one before is the boss battle. You have to pass the five stages and complete the game, not with bonus stages to get the Mighty Morphin skins. I say skins because they still show that they are the Megaforce rangers and when you play as MM Blue Ranger, his Power Lance blasts lasers like Noah's Shark Bowgun. You can scan cards for extra power but it doesn't help you unlock Ultra Mode, Robo Knight or MMPR skins. It is extremely hard to scan the cards. They need the barcode on the sides that activate on the Gosei Morpher.

  
 The story modes are just cliparts of the characters and they talk with captions and have Anime like emotions like little smoke puffs and anger lighting. You have to fight a bunch of Loogies or find some stuff to unlock secret bonus levels, most are Robo Knight levels that you fight only as him. Later on when you unlock Ultra Mode or MMPR, you can't fight as Green Ranger. When you hit the button for Ultra Mode, the five Megaforce Rangers go to Ultra mode for a short time. Robo Kngith and the Mighty Morphin Rangers just 'power up' with a yellow-white flame around them, giving them extra strength. So no, no golden shield for Mighty Morphin Red.

 Megazord battles, you fight Gosei Great Megazord, later when you get Robo Knight, you can fight as Gosei Grand Megazord and later on as Gosei Great Grand Megazord. When you go Mighty Morphin, this DOES NOT effect the zords. To fight, you can hit the green to block, red for shooting fire (which takes time to load so you got to back up a bit) and blue is for sword slashing.

 After passing all the stages except for the bonus ones, you can unlock the Mighty Morphin skins. You have to press X + A before entering a stage. The bottom with the Megaforce faces doesn't change, the Megaforce face on the top doesn't change. Only the playing mode. They have their Blade Blasters and Power Weapons. Pink says "Morphinomical" and Yellow says something like "You're Finished!" and Black says "Hey." Blue and Red just grunt.


 Megaforce takes the code or whatever (I don't get it) from the current Super Sentai series game Kyoryuger. It looks EXACTLY the same, uses the same sets and fighting styles, the clipart story pics, the other rangers talking and even the MUSIC. Yes, the only song the Megaforce game uses from the show is the THEME SONG. There is Samba music from Kyoryuger in this game. Some sound great, some don't.

 As you can see it uses the same clipart like story. In the Megaforce game, none of the voices are the same. Robo Knight and Gosei aren't even their voices. Most of them similar. To me, Jake sounds like Noah and Noah sounds like Jake. For me, Gia is the one that sounds farthest like her. Vrak sounds pretty close but Gosei and Robo Knight are clearly generic voices. There is no Tensou in the game.

 Your kid or you can morph yourself into a Ranger just like the Kyoryuger game. You can change which Ranger you change into at 'Morphin Time' after starting the game. So finally, I think the voices during the game is annoying and too repeatative, the music is okay, the gameplay... I hate how the directions aren't responsive, the Nick.com games are more responsive. For example, when I want to change the direction they go, I have to wait until the attack sequence ends. Red Ranger and Yellow Ranger have best handle for fighting, Blue is only good from far away and Pink is the best for jumping. My nephew likes it, it is kind of entertaining.

RangerStop.com

 This weekend I've been so busy that I forgot to tell you guys is that I was going to be at the event. Anyway, I met some fellow fans that know about Henshin Grid so that was great. I live in Miami and traveled to Orlando for this quaint toy and comic con and it was fantastic. I sold toys, cards, pinatas and other things so thank you to those who bought. I do not know yet if I will do another con this year but I am thinking about doing Rangerstop next year or at least just attend. 

At the con was Jason Faunt (Wes), Nakia Burrise (Tanya), Jason Narvy (Spike), Steven Skyler (Antonio), Alex Heartman (Jayden) and Najee De Tiege (Kevin). Najee was super kind to purchase from me. It was great fun. They had a over 18 panel like at PMC3 and heard new info from Narvy and great stories from Samurai. Anyways Rangerstop.com is a toy website, soon they will have an online store set up. So give it a glance.

 Steven Skyler and I
At the 18 and Over Panel, I asked him what was up with his Spanglish with the American accent. He told me they told him to speak with American accent. 

My friend Peter (or Pedro Castle, ha ha) with WWE Wrestler Xavier Woods (Austin Watson) or Consequences Creed, who is a Power Rangers fan and just happened to be at the con.